


Self-Sacrificing Idiots

by JMount74



Series: Fluffember 2020 [20]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Broken Bones, Gen, Minor whump, Stabbing, hospital stay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27654973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74
Summary: From the prompt: ’S***. Why didn’t you say anything?’ Thank you @aliceinwhumperland.Featuring the two most self-sacrificing idiots in the world and a continuation of a conversation with @gumnut-logic.Starts with a bit of whump, but uses the following Fluffember prompts: Carry, Reassure, Time
Series: Fluffember 2020 [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997284
Comments: 10
Kudos: 30





	1. Carry

They were the two most self-sacrificing idiots in the world. They really were. And John wasn’t sure which one he was going to kill first.

Virgil, Kayo and Gordon were in the Atlantic, wrestling with the dregs of a hurricane trying to capsize a good-size trawler whose engine had seized up. Gordon was on deck while Kayo operated the rescue platform to lift the thirty-something crew to safety and Virgil was having trouble keeping Two level.

His ’bird was usually a delight to pilot, but Hurricane Laura was tossing Two around a bit more than usual, and Virgil was so pleased that Kayo had come with them. It would usually have been Alan, but he and Scott were over in Canada, putting One through her paces after an extensive overhaul and upgrading.

John was murmuring in one ear wind speeds and ocean currents. They had originally planned to drop Four and have her stabilise the boat, but the waves and currents had caused them to readjust the plan, and Gordon had descended by cable.

Halfway through. Halfway through and Virgil’s shoulders and his jawline were aching from the tension of holding them so tensely. Most of the crew had been more than amenable, but some were becoming contentious. They could only load 10 people at a time, and the third and last batch were beginning to look a bit green. And some angry faces were beginning to appear.

Hearing the fractiousness of some of the crew and how they were talking to Gordon, Virgil decided that Kayo should go join him on deck for the last trip. So John took over Two – reluctantly – and Virgil took on Kayo’s role as she descended with the platform for the last time.

Gordon was used to this. ‘This’ being a) wet and b) being yelled at by irate people, although those irate people were usually his brothers. But these last ten men were big and burly and towered over him. But Gordon was not easily cowed. He stood talk and argued back, and the majority of the men respected him for it. But he was still very relieved to see Kayo on the platform.

Eight of the remaining men simply got on the platform and buckled in. The remaining two did not. Gordon and Kayo stood shoulder to shoulder as Gordon explained that they needed to get onto the platform. They didn’t move. Gordon was joined at the other shoulder by the Captain, who looked very confused to see two of his seamen being so belligerent. 

John and Virgil were listening and watching. The captain managed to talk one of the men into buckling in, and Virgil decided to bring up the platform. They would have needed a fourth trip anyway to get Gordon and Kayo. Once up, the man who had held them back appeared terrified, and Virgil gathered he was terrified of being here, terrified of flying, by the way he was clinging to the captain’s arm. No-one called him out on this, as everyone had fears, and Virgil offered him a mild sedative to calm his nerves. The gratefulness in the man’s eyes said everything.

Meanwhile, things on deck were not going any better. By now Virgil had communicated that the first man had been terrified of flying – maybe the second had the same issue? So Gordon took the opportunity and changed direction. If anything, asking that question made the man more furious than ever.

John watched in disbelief as the man took a swing at Gordon. Gordon, of course, ducked out of the way, his military instincts kicking in, and popped up again as the man overbalanced. A well-placed palm and he was on the deck, Kayo astride his back and holding the bellowing man in place. Gordon smirked. No-one could better their sister in hand-to-hand combat, and there was no way the man was getting out of that one.

While all this was happening, Virgil had lowered the platform and John had manoeuvred Two slightly over so they did not decapitate anyone. The man seemed to have calmed down now he had no choice, and as Gordon guided the platform down safely Kayo let him up, careful to keep a hand on him just in case.

‘Just in case’ proved to be needed as the man, sitting down in the chair, suddenly proceeded to headbutt her. In the brief moment she lost control of him, he twisted out of the chair, throwing a punch into Gordon’s side and disappeared back onto the ship.

There was a lot of shouting. And someone was swearing. And suddenly Virgil was beside them both, Jaws of Life on. Gordon caught his breath and waved Virgil over to get that infernal guy. Virgil nodded and left, following the bloke, trusting his wingman to care for Kayo. She was the source of the cursing. It wasn’t often someone got the drop on her, and the blood running down her face told Gordon the man had not held back. He took a med pack from his baldrick and set about cleaning her up.

Gordon then went back to help Virgil. The man was fighting dirty, and Virgil, acutely aware that his exo-suit could do some real damage, was doing his best in the limited space. As Gordon joined the fray, Virgil stepped aside and stepped out of the suit. Just in time to see the guy lunge at Gordon with a knife. 

He lunged. Virgil jumped in. Gordon twisted and turned. Within seconds the man was on the ground unconscious. Nodding his thanks to Virgil, Gordon turned to tie the man up, and Virgil climbed back into the suit. They made their way to the platform, Virgil carrying the bloke, and they all strapped in. John raised the platform.

The captain, bless him, had not stopped apologising for the two wayward men. Virgil appreciated the statement, and as he ran the med scanner over the unconscious man, he nodded his thanks.

No issues with the man. No issues with the other scared man. No issues a rest and some ice couldn’t cure for Gordon. No issues ice couldn’t help with for Kayo after he stitched her eyebrow.

So Virgil headed towards the cockpit.  
He never made it.

As he walked out of the infirmary, he heard the sharp intake of breath from both Gordon and Kayo, but he had other things on his mind and filed that away for investigation later. Right now his priority was getting the men to the hospital and them home.

He was halfway to the cockpit when Gordon caught up with him and stopped him with a hand on his right shoulder, gently spinning the big man around. Virgil looked surprised, then a little concerned at the frown on Gordon’s face.

’S***. Why didn’t you say anything, Virg?’ he asked. Virgil just frowned deeper. Say anything about what? Looking down, there was a gash in his left side, and he was bleeding. Before he could process what was happening, his body suddenly decided to inform him there was, indeed, a problem.

Suddenly Gordon found his arms full of Virgil. He lay him on the floor and checked him over. His brother had been stabbed, and he needed to get Virgil back to the infirmary. John appeared over his shoulder. EOS had alerted him to Virgil’s sudden change in condition. Gordon shared a glance, and John understood immediately, disappearing and informing Kayo. Kayo, in turn, made sure the man was secure (and enjoyed doing so).

Gordon knew he’d have to pick Virgil up and carry him, there was not much room for a stretcher and they wouldn’t leave the rescuees alone, and he flexed his knees. Carrying Virgil was no mean feat. His brother was taller and broader than he was. And twice as heavy. Sighing, he dug deep into his reserves and picked Virgil up in a fireman’s lift.

Stumbling into the infirmary with him, Gordon couldn’t deny the relief of putting Virgil down. Kayo set about running the scanner over him. It was quite a deep wound and jagged, starting from just under his rib cage down to his hip, and Grandma would have to stitch it properly when they got back. 

John was keeping an eye on everything, hovering attentively. Suddenly, he froze as out of sight something caught his attention.

‘Guys, something’s going on with Scott and Alan. Gotta go.’


	2. Reassurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott and Alan's turn.

Scott and Alan had taken One out for a spin. Initially, the idea had been to test her upgrades and give Alan a little more hands-on experience with her. The appearance of the Mechanic a while ago had emphasised how they all needed to be sure and comfortable flying each other’s ’birds.

They hadn’t been out for very long when Virgil and Gordon had been called out. With Kayo there as well, it had been unanimously decided that the testing was more important. 

Alan was relishing the time at One’s helm. He loved his ship, it was, after all, the best one, but if he had to choose a second – One would be it. Yeah, he loved Five too, but he was a speed junkie just like his eldest brother, and he never got enough. 

Scott was standing behind him, huge grin on his face, enjoying Alan’s expressions flying his ’bird. He shouldn’t really be standing behind but strapped in, but he was enjoying this too much. Scott knew how to stand on his ship while she was flying ridiculously fast, Brains had made the cockpit secure enough, knowing that it could sometimes be necessary.

EOS’ tones came over the comm. ‘Scott, I am receiving a distress call from Squamish in Canada. Three climbers have not reported in at the scheduled time, and there is a weather front moving in.’ Scott leaned over Alan’s shoulder as EOS displayed the last known location of the climbers.

Squamish was a large area in Canada that had some of the best and most diverse climbing in the world. It had been on Scott’s bucket list of climbing for years, but he had never made it there, either as a tourist or as a rescuer.

‘Let me guess. They’re missing on the Stawamus Chief?.’ EOS’ camera shook her head. ‘No, Scott, they’re on the Petgill Lake trail.’ Scott nodded to himself. One of the harder trails. ‘Explain where on the trail they have become lost, please.’

‘They appear to have completed the first section of the trail and were heading though the forest towards the lake. The forest is quite dense and apparently there is an easy-to-miss trail. The hikers do not seem very knowledgeable of this particular trail.’

Scott moved to the passenger seat and buckled in. Alan hit the boosters and they shot off.

While they traversed the globe, EOS fine-tuned the sensors, hoping to get a better fix on the missing trio. By the time Thunderbird One was on approach to Murrin Provincial Park EOS had narrowed the likely location down to two places where there were groups of three signals moving around the woods in places off the trail.

They were going to have to split up, both groups in completely opposite directions. Murrin car park was exactly half-way between them. Just because the groups appeared off-trail did not mean that they were the lost ones, so Scott took the group furthest away, as Alan had known he would, and they both set off. Alan had one of Scott’s spare jet packs – another piece of equipment to get used to.

Scott jetted off. He didn’t need to wait for Alan to reach his own group, he trusted his brother completely, and he followed the holographic map to the location of his group. He found three men looking kind of sorry for themselves, soaked to the skin and tramping about muttering. They were so relieved to see Scott that he could have sworn one was crying.

They actually were not that far from the official trail, having simply turned aside too early to reach it, so Scott pointed them in the right direction while he brought up the rear, calling Alan to say he’d found them.

Alan did not answer. Frowning, Scott asked EOS if anything was wrong with Alan’s communicator, but his so-called Scooter Sense was ringing off the chart by now. Passing the men by and saying he had another rescue to attend, Scott fired his pack up to maximum, shot upwards to clear the treeline and headed for Alan’s co-ordinates.

Alan had not found three lost hikers where he was. No, he had found three very big, very angry men. He’d apologised for disturbing them, but they were not happy at all. And Alan had not been quick enough to move.

He found his arm grabbed by a large hand before he could trigger the jet pack and was dragged by the men through the forest to what appeared to be a small camp. This did not look good. Within minutes of arriving Alan found his hands and ankles bound, and the three men withdrew from him across the camp but still in sight. He took the opportunity to activate his comm.

Nothing.

Alan realised just what a problem he was in. They were looking at him and looking across the clearing to what looked like a cave in the cliff-face before them It wasn’t a huge hill in front, but it looked like there had once been a mine in operation here. Alan knew there had once been an operational copper mine over 100 years ago a bit further south – Scott had begun explaining about the area while they were travelling – but this was not a main entrance.

Nothing.

No Alan, no three people and no comms. Something or someone was deliberately blocking Five’s scans and that could mean only one thing. Alan was in terrible trouble. Alighting at the co-ordinates EOS had provided, Scott examined the ground and looked around. He needed to find his brother, and he needed to decide the best way to do this. Should he grab One or continue on foot? The forest was very dense here, and Scott was worried that he’d miss something if he flew. So he set off on foot.

It wasn’t difficult to follow the trail. They obviously had not thought ahead that Alan was unlikely to be alone. He followed them as fast as he could while being as silent as possible, a task he’d mastered while serving but had proved to be invaluable for iR. He was just in time to see three very thick-set men – broader than Virgil even – hauling Alan into the entrance of a cave. Typical. Why was it that anything that looked like the safest option was always the one that put Alan in the most danger? He swore that if he had sent Gordon or Virgil they would have got the hikers and he would have got the danger. John was a whole different matter.

As he approached the entrance, slightly to the right so as to stay as hidden as possible, he updated EOS on what was going on. EOS had promptly contacted the GDF and they were on their way (god knows how long that would take), and let John know. The dead spot had moved with the men, and as Scott moved closer he just made out EOS telling John that he and Alan were needing help and John’s reply of: ‘Guys, something’s going on with Scott and Alan. Gotta go.’ Scott didn’t have time to consider if Virgil and Gordon were alright – a simple sea rescue, nothing to go wrong there – before his comms cut out completely.

Nothing compared to the dead sound of no comms. It was one of Scott’s worse nightmares, one that rarely happened nowadays but had happened regularly in the early days. Still, he trusted that John and EOS would work their usual magic, and he was comforted to know the GDF was on their way – even if he knew they would probably be too late. What he wouldn’t give for Kayo to appear now, rather than be with Virg. She could at least take care of the three men while Scott rescued Alan.

The three men in question chose that time to come high-tailing it out of the cave – minus Alan. The speed they ran out told Scott all he needed to know, and he flung himself into the cave. The mine entrance, as his brain corrected him, was quite wide and deep, a complete contrast to the actual entranceway, which had barely fitted the three men. Running to the back where he was sure Alan would be, Scott actually tripped over his brother, eliciting a groan from the prone form on the ground.

Scott knew that there was little time. He didn’t need his double degree nor his time the military to know that one. Alan was bound hand and foot, gagged as well and it looked like he’d taken a blow to the head. His helmet was missing. Quickly nabbing one of Alan’s ‘can openers’, he made short work of the bonds and, removing his own helmet and placing it over Alan’s head, he assisted his baby brother to his feet and they set off.

It wasn’t a long distance to the entranceway, but it was too long.

As the ceiling collapsed around them, Scott gave a mighty shove to Alan, pushing him clear. Unfortunately, that meant Scott was not clear as everything came down around him, and Alan looked back in horror at the now blocked entrance. His fuzzy brain wasn’t yet firing on all cylinders again, and it took him several heartbeats to realise that John was shouting at him. No, he wasn’t shouting at him, John was shouting at Scott. Why was John calling him Scott?

The realisation that he had Scott’s helmet on hit him hard; and was enough to get his befuddled brain back into gear. Scott had removed his helmet and given it to Alan. Why the hell did he then push Alan forward? Sometimes Alan swore he would never understand this over-protective streak his brothers had. Alan had armour and he had a helmet, Scott had none of these. Yet his self-sacrificing idiot of a brother had pushed him out of the way rather than protect himself.

Alan was going to kill him after he had dug him out.

There was a sudden loud whistling from his comms, and Alan clutched his head. ‘God, John, ok! Ok, I’m here!’

‘Alan! Why have you got Scott’s helmet?’  
‘It’s a bit of a difficult story John. I got jumped by three guys and tied up. Pretty sure they knocked me out judging from the headache I have. Next thing I know, Scott’s picking me up and rushing me out.’  
‘Are you ok?’

Here Alan rolled his eyes. All his older brothers had that over-protective streak. As he answered he counted out the seconds it would take John to realise Scott wasn’t here.

‘I’m fine, John! But Scott..’  
‘Thank god! Gordon’s on his way…wait, where’s Scott?’  
Three seconds.  
‘Scott’s still in there. The entrance is blocked.’  
'S***! Why didn't you say anything?'

And then Alan heard something he thought he never would.

John said nothing. Alan could here EOS filling base and Gordon – he’d ask about Virgil in a minute – in on what was happening here, which normally would have ben John. At the very least, he should have been issuing commands and comfort to Alan. 

But he wasn’t.

EOS came over the comm. ’Alan, I have Scott’s signal. It’s still strong and his vitals are stable.’ Alan breathed a sigh of relief. And proceeded to do something he never thought he would. He reassured John.

‘Hey, John, did you hear that? Scotty’s just fine. EOS will keep an eye on him while Gordon and I dig him out in a minute, OK?’

John shuddered. Alan could see it clear as day on the hologram. What the hell had happened to Virgil? It certainly wasn’t the first time his eldest brother had found himself buried pushing one of them out of the way, so it must be the combination of the two rescues. He could hear Two approaching, and another sound which he hoped was a GDF flyer.

Scott would know the sound. But Scott wasn’t here, and Alan had his helmet.

‘John, man. Are you with me? John? Johnny!’ That snapped John out of wherever he had just gone.

‘Sorry, Alan. Two is on approach and Kayo has already prepped a mole pod. Gordon will be doing this; you need to go to the infirmary and get checked over.’

‘Not a chance, John. I need to make sure he’s alright. I’m not leaving until I see him.’ John sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes. ‘Ok, Alan. Ok’

With Gordon in the pod and EOS directing it did not take long to find Scott. He’d been extremely lucky. Yeah, he had a lot of rocks on and around his legs, but a large slab from the ceiling had managed to protect his head and upper body from far worse damage. He still had a nasty head wound and a broken arm to go with his broken legs.

But it could have been much worse.

Gordon pursed his lips. He echoed Alan’s earlier sentiments. What was it about older brothers throwing themselves in the way? He would have had no trouble with that man and his knife – for goodness sakes he was military trained – something that Virgil was prone to forget in the heat of the moment. And Scott! Well, he was the ultimate self-sacrificing idiot.

Those two were as bad as each other, and he, John and Alan were going to enjoy telling them so as they recuperated.


	3. Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time is the great healer, so they say.

Time seemed to slow whilst Gordon and Alan were carefully transporting Scott over to Two’s infirmary. But it wasn’t until they were just outside that Alan remembered to ask where Virgil and Kayo were. Gordon had the good grace to slightly colour before answering that Virgil would be in the bed next door to Scott.

'S***! Why didn't you say anything?' Alan said, stopping dead in his tracts. Gordon sighed. ‘With everything else that has happened today? It’s been a bad day, that’s for sure.’

‘So, let me get this straight in my mind. Scott’s unconscious with three broken limbs. Virgil is unconscious from a stab wound. Myself definitely and Kayo possibly has concussion, and you received a punch to the kidneys.’ Gordon nodded. All sounded about right. He hoped the punch wasn’t quite bad enough to be peeing blood, but there was no denying it had stopped him dead.

John came over the comm. He was much calmer now, and ever so slightly embarrassed he acted like that. John couldn’t remember the last time he had frozen over anything, although hearing the news about Scott like that just after Virgil had certainly thrown him. 

While Alan and Kayo settled Scott into a bay and ensured he was strapped in, John directed Gordon to Vancouver General, one of the closest hospitals that could manage Two. He himself was about to descend to the island to pick up Grandma and Brains. EOS was piloting One home, and Gordon was asked to come pick up the rest of the family as soon as everyone was off. Kayo had already been in touch with Penny and the security teams, and the hospital had opened up a closed isolation ward where everyone could be kept together.

Gordon wasn’t sure he liked that idea – Scott and Virgil together was a given if you wanted any peace at all, but Alan and him sharing with the Smother Twins? No thank you! Gordon was under no illusions that he would be spending the night just to make sure – no-one would argue with Grandma. And she would definitely ground his ass tonight once they’d arrived back at the hospital. She’d probably make John pilot.

As the medics took away the four operatives, the GDF waited for the attacker from the trawler. They had apparently apprehended the three from the failed attempt to re-open the mine. The family lawyer was going to be busy…

It didn’t take long for Two to get home and back again – if you ignored the time difference – but neither of the two older boys were out of surgery yet. Sally, Brains and John caught up with everything. Kayo had had Virgil’s butterfly stitches removed and had a neat row of stitches in a nice black thread. They’d dissolve in 7-10 days, and she’d got off lightly with no concussion. Alan had a moderate concussion from the blow to his head. It hadn’t broken the skin, though, and so it was just a monster headache and nausea to deal with. Gordon had a bruised kidney and yeah, had peed a little blood. His attending physician had said 24 hours bed rest. Gordon had argued that he didn’t need it. Grandma had simply looked at him, eyebrow cocked, and Gordon had given in. Weaponised eyebrows were a Tracy norm.

The family set out to wait.

Sally reflected that nothing ever went easy when it should. Both rescues on paper were classic easy ones, ones that the boys had done time and time again. Yet here they were. With both Scott looking like he’d be out of action for months and Virgil for several weeks at the least, iR would be standing down for at least seven days, until Alan, Gordon and Kayo were up and running.

They all needed time. Time to process what had happened literally in the space of less than half an hour. Time to get better in the hospital. Time to heal at home.

This was going to be a nightmare. For everyone. Sally wondered whether she should send Scott away somewhere once he was fit enough, goodness knows he would be awful while the others went on rescues without him, but equally, did she want to inflict that on someone else? Or even on Scott? This is going to require a lot of planning.

Time marched on.

Virgil was the first back, which surprised no-one. The doctor explained that nothing vital had been damaged, a deep puncture wound coupled with tearing down for about three inches meant a lot of stitches. Virgil was on the good stuff, and the position in his side meant that he’d find it difficult to get comfortable once he regained consciousness.

Scott’s surgeon turned up three hours later. The only good thing about his injuries was that the breaks were clean. However, both fibulas and tibias had been broken, twice in his right leg and once in his left, and his femur on his right had also broken. They had cast his left leg after manually manipulating the bones, but they had used wires on his right. The surgeon explained that they would usually have used screws and a metal rod though the tibia, but they had decided not to because of Scott’s job. The down side of that was it meant another surgery in six weeks to remove them. Similarly, Scott’s right arm had also been wired together, with one clean break of his ulna and radius and several smaller fractures to his wrist and fingers. 

Of more pressing concern was the head injury. He had a small skull fracture that thankfully was not depressed, but that would be more debilitating in the short term due to the severe headaches he would get. And there had been no bleed on the brain nor any leaking of fluid, but the multiple fractures Scott had increased the likelihood of infection. They had cleaned the site and stitched the skin. This raised the glimmer of a smile with Alan and Gordon, the thought that Scott would have had some of his head shaved.

There was a discussion regarding symptoms to watch for in regard to possible infection and post-concussion syndrome, which Sally already knew and by now so did all her grandsons, and the surgeon left, saying Scott was in recovery and would be along within the next hour or two. Virgil would possibly be awake by then.

Time was supposed to be this great healer, and he supposed it was, but sometimes he hated her with a passion. There was never time for him to be there for his brothers, never time to just be. Even now, with Grandma calling a weeks’ hiatus to iR’s activities and Colonel Casey agreeing, he was busy tapping away with EOS, digging into the men who had hurt his brothers, ensuring that there was no greater threat involved. And there wasn’t. Two men with documented history of severe phobia regarding flying and heights. Three idiotic men who thought an old copper mine could contain gold. Just two extremely unlucky circumstances. John sighed heavily; and was startled when Grandma reached across and took the pad from him, instructing EOS to continue without him for at least 48 hours. EOS quite happily agreed to that, the traitorous minx, and John suddenly found that maybe, just maybe, he did have the time to be with his brothers.

Virgil began to wake up. He was groggy and a little unaware of what was going on, yet it came as no surprise to any of them when the first coherent words out of his mouth were asking if Gordon and Kayo were alright. If Alan’s headache wasn’t so bad he would have yelled at him. It took almost a full hour and a half for Virgil to be aware enough to realise Scott wasn’t present, and it was almost uncanny timing that his older brother was wheeled in just as he was asking.

If Virgil said anything embarrassing nothing was said. With Sally present and the severity of injuries no-one was inclined to gather evidence.

Time passed slowly again while they waited for Scott to wake up.

It took almost a complete 24 hours before both Scott and Virgil were solidly awake enough to hear the verdict on their injuries. And as each family member’s injuries were detailed, Scott’s frown got deeper and deeper. His concentration level was severely impeded, though, and he couldn’t retain much of what was said that first time. 

Gordon was given the all-clear after 24 hours, as long as he didn’t over exert himself for a couple of weeks. Kayo was also cleared with just a caution to take it easy for a couple of days. Alan was allowed out after 48 hours and banned from flying and active duty for at least a week, possibly more if the headache had not gone by then.

Virgil slept on and off for most of those 48 hours. But there was no infection, and he was healing well. They kept him in for a week before allowing him to go home, but he would probably take another month or so before he could move freely without pain. The wonders of Brains’ and Sally’s medical knowledge combined meant that he would be free to heal properly but at a greater speed than conventional medicine would give.

Scott. Scott was out of it for most of the first week, mostly due to the concussion and the pain. The hospital had offered for him to stay the entire six weeks until the operation to remove the wires, but Sally had refused, knowing that he would heal better at home. They came to an amicable arrangement for him to stay two weeks, to ensure no further risks of infection.

John flew Two over to pick both Scott and Virgil up. It had come as no surprise when Virgil offered to stay with Scott. iR had been back in operation for a week, and EOS was filtering calls, sending all but the most extreme cases to local operators.

For John, Gordon, Alan and Kayo the next four weeks passed in a whirlwind of activity where there seemed to be no time at all. For Scott, and to a slightly lesser degree, for Virgil, time for those four weeks was so slow it was painful. Scott was perpetually grumpy, desperate to be of some help but lacking the concentration to be any. Virgil, well Virgil coped by painting – carefully – and trying to be there for Scott. He really was an awful patient.

But time does heal all, and they were soon back in Vancouver for the removal of the wires. A short operation, and one that gave Sally and Brains the opportunity to see how Scott was healing. And they were both relieved at the positive signs. Usually these injuries would keep someone in casts for six months at least, with a further two months of therapy. But with Brains’ bone regenerator working at its maximum, the healing was far further along. The surgeon was optimistic that Scott would be out of the casts within another two to three months and was sure that for such a fit person with their facilities, he would be on his feet again far quicker.

All told, with Gordon and Virgil helping Scott with his physio, iR was back up to full complement in just over five months. Time had been good to the older boys, they had healed with no complications at all and John, whilst escaping every now and then to Five, had spent longer on Earth than he had done for years. Everyone had used One and Two and were now proficient on both ships.

Discussions were held. Where the two youngest were extremely vocal about the self-sacrificing idiocy of certain older brothers. Both Scott and Virgil had been slightly – only slightly – discomforted by the outburst. Both promised to try not to leap in front next time. No-one believed them for an instant – that instinct ran deep in all of them – but it did bring a sort of closure to the entire affair.

Sally looked over the deck as her grandchildren played. Time was a great healer, it was true, and she wished with all her heart sometimes that they did not need it. But they always would.

They were who they were always meant to be, and time did not change that. And neither would she.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is such a thing as a bone regenerator that is used to speed up healing fractures, and I’m pretty sure the future would bring better technology for this. 
> 
> Six to eight months is average healing time for tib/fib fractures, and using screws, plates and poles that stay in place is standard practice. However, I’m sure that that would not be helpful flying at supersonic speeds, so wires are my choice of fixative.


End file.
